Let's hear a little bit about the driver - What's your name and where are you from?
Hi I’m Haley! I’d share my last name but nobody ever knows how to correctly pronounce it anyways haha- I was born and raised in Louisville, KY where I still currently reside.
What got you into modifying cars and what kept you in it?
I was born from two huge lowrider and euro enthusiasts so it was in my blood. Literally. Growing up taking my parents’ cars to shows I could only dream of one day having my own car that would be good enough to show off. From the day I turned 15 and I was gifted my first car (a Volkswagen of course) I knew I was destined to build a cool car and fulfill my dreams. With both of my parents by my side, I knew the impossible wasn’t so impossible after all. I didn’t know it at the time but my car would evolve to be the perfect mix between old and new style euro with slight hints of lowrider culture that would make it stand out in a crowd.
Tell us about your cars!
My first car was a 2001 Volkswagen Cabrio that was gifted to me when I was 15 but sadly didn’t move from the driveway much as it was a manual and I hadn’t learned at the time so it became more of my mom’s car than mine. When I graduated high school I used all of my money to purchase an automatic car so that I could finally get driving, it happened to be a 2007 Volkswagen Rabbit. It was a beater with a heater but it got the job done for a little over a year. By then I felt I was experienced enough as a new driver to sell that and get my first big girl purchase, a car I never imagined would end up meaning so much to me- my 2013 Volkswagen GTI.
Side note: I also have a 92 Mazda Miata project car and a 2016 Volkswagen Jetta that I daily drive!
Exterior Mods?
I have Full Raceland air struts and bags, an Accuair manifold, Viair dual compressors, United Grey Metallic factory color matched MDF panels in the trunk with a custom bridge with LED lighting, Polished 3/8 .035 stainless steel hardlines, and a Candy Red powder-coated 5 gallon aluminum air tank with floating tank brackets. Smoked marker lights, Tinted fog lights, Helix mk7.5 designed sequential headlights, Red smoked sequential LED taillights, Sequential mirror turn signals, Tinted rear bumper reflectors, KillAllWipers flush rear wiper delete, Custom broken heart exhaust tips, Carbon fiber front lip, Underglow, OptikWerks color matched side skirts, OEM color matched roof rails, Carbon fiber side mirror caps, Carbon fiber rear spoiler extension, and a Gloss black ECS rear diffuser, finished with some Work vs-xx with powdercoated gunmetal faces, gloss black barrels, black hardware, red vs center caps, and polished 1.5” lips wrapped in 215/35/18 Kumho Ecsta tires.
Interior Mods?
Colored LED footwell lighting, Pilar pod with digital boost and tank pressure gauges, retrofitted a Likewise Daytona shift knob with a Stitch Boots GTI plaid shift boot, Driver’s Edition honeycomb door trim, Carbon Fiber radio/climate control/shifter/cubby surrounding trim, Carbon Fiber steering wheel with paddle shift extensions and APR bottom badge, OEM style center console with MDI delete, finished off with a starlight headliner. A Sony double din with car play and a CT sounds Meso 6.5” subwoofer with custom sub box and CT Sounds 700.1 amp provides just enough extra sound yet doesn’t take up too much extra space needed to make the air setup shine.
Anything special under the hood?
Just a low and slow 2.0T DSG with a dual exhaust with resonator and muffler delete, a CircuitWerks 3” catless downpipe, Carbon fiber APR cold air intake, and upgraded black flush coolant tank/washer fluid reservoir/oil caps to make everything more appealing to look at in the engine bay.
What are some things you've done to your car that others might not notice?
At first glance it’s hard to tell especially in pictures, but my roof rails are actually color matched to the factory paint on the car which I think is kinda unique, I see a lot of cars running oem rails but never painted like mine are! I also have two manual rocker switches to control my air ride which are perfectly fitted in front of my shifter which is a very clean and almost hidden look in my opinion!
Anything else you'd like to add?
Big thank you to The Lab 2.0 and Angie & Jason Caranto for always believing in me and supporting my crazy ideas and dreams no matter what! I wouldn’t be here without you guys, I love you always! And to everyone who gets a rough or slow start whether it’s with cars or anything else in life, and doesn’t think they can do it, just keep pushing! Even when people around you doubt you and try to bring you down, prove them wrong!
Photo Credit - @griffins.bangers and @stiitch.e92 on Instagram.
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